Santa Barbara Beach Painting

I am a predominantly equine and pet portrait artist. I do enjoy creating work on a wide variety of subjects including landscapes, people and sometimes still life but my great passion is drawing and painting horses. I also love animals and I enjoy taking commissions of people’s pets whatever animal they may be! There is something about capturing the soul of an animal in art form that fascinates me and I am humbled by the joy my work brings to the owners of the pets I draw. I have always been attracted like a magnet to horses, they are creatures of opposites. Strong but vulnerable, powerful but gentle, proud but modest. The complexities of their nature along with the intricacies of their musculoskeletal system is what inspires me to make my art. I love to try to capture their thoughts and their feelings through their eyes, stance and life force on to the page. I want to captivate people to horses through my art, people who may never have shown much interest in them before as well as those that are already fond of them. My recent collection ‘Equus’ is an exquisite set of equine themed drawings. These works of art may not be large but they are none the less eye-catching. I work almost exclusively at the moment in Derwent color pencil. I find that I can go in to great detail on a smaller scale with this medium. Detail to me is a key principle in my work and one that I am constantly aware of when I am creating, I am always striving for perfection. Color is another key element in my work. I never see only brown or grey in my subject, I see a rainbow of different colors and I use these colors to give depth and motion. I would describe my work as a blend of traditional form with a contemporary edge. I am not happy with a static photographic representation of my subject, I want my work to jump off the page with visual energy and rich glossy color, yet at the same time I want it to be accurate in every way to the creature I see before me. My art is part of who I am, I do not think when I work, I look and concentrate and my pieces come to fruition as if by magic. I am greatly appreciative of this gift and every piece I create is of great importance to me.